2016 Natural Products Expo West Overall Trends and Recap Thoughts

Overheard all the time, which is super awesome, “How much sugar is in xyz product?”

Less dairy, and when there was dairy, the trend seems to be spiking to high-quality dairy (i.e. Organic, Raw and Grass Fed)

Probiotics infusion

Probiotics and prebiotics as a topic of conversation

Gut health is becoming more and more talked about, appreciated and focused on. YAY! All these years of being A Gutsy Girl, sharing information and caring excessively about the topic might finally start to pay off.

Superfoods galore

Paleo still on the rise, and yet I still don’t feel like there is enough

Crickets entering the marketplace

All hail the coconut

Many Vegan options

A ton of granola and granola snacks, making me wonder if the category is flooded?

There is still a gap for quality meat snacks, as I found only a few

Kombucha is the hot beverage

But, by far, my main overall recap thought and ah-ha moment came when I found myself perusing booth after booth and hearing companies utter phrases like, “100% natural, super clean, healthy.” I would then simply pick up said “100% natural, super clean, healthy” product and check out the ingredients, only to feel let down.

2016 Natural Products Expo West Favorite Brands and Products

From that list, my favorites included:

Nutiva:their Organic (Vegan) Buttery Coconut Oil made my top 3 list, but they also debuted a Vegan Chocolate Spread that is a million times the product rotten and disgusting (poorly sourced) Nutella is (I can say that because Nutiva is not my company:))

Vital Proteins: they have just released a new Marine Collagen that I fell in love with, and the greatest thing about it is that (for me) it triple acts as a skin product, gut product and travel companion

Charlie Banana: I met Gaelle, the founder and owner, and fell in love with her.

NOW Foods: If you’ve followed here for any length of time, you know I love their L-Glutamine for gut healing, but I was introduced to a new (traveling) probiotic that I’m excited to share more about soon!

The Ginger People: I may or may not have an obsession with Ginger Beer + their Gin Gins are kind of perfection

Hamona: I really wanted to give them one of my top 3 spots from Expo West, but in the end, I decided it would be too hard because they are in Vietnam and the product is still not available here, but it’s a whole coconut with a little punch for a straw to (easily) drink straight from the coconut. They were friendly and awesome and when they come here I’ll be sure to let you know.

RESTORE: Shortly before attending the show, a reader commented on the post wondering if I’d check them out, so I did and after I learned a ton, watched videos, spoke with the creator and tried the product, I can say I recommend it. I will hopefully get to share more with you soon.

Hu Paleo Chocolate: I’m not kidding….there are zero lecithins in this chocolate and it is divine

Thousand Hills Cattle Co.: But those grass fed beef sticks, though! Here’s the kicker, I don’t have access to them in California, apparently, but they are based in the homeskillet Minnesota and the guy told me that my family can get them at the Waseca Hy-Vee! How awesome is that?!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

I definitely saw a lot of HUMMUS and VEGAN PROTEIN POWDERS (with mushroom protein) – both tasty for sure, however, I am super curious as to what the NEXT “trend” in healthy food is going to be… This world of product creation always fascinates me!

Did not have good results with restore. People really need to read up on the side effects of l glutamine-I got most except the seizure part…not good. Doing much better with IC pearls, and mago7. Everybody is different, and it takes a long time to get what works for you…and a lot of these trials are not cheap! But my health is worth it! I will check out the ginger beet, and a few of your other choices. Thanks for your research very much helpful and appreciated…now to go see who carries them! Cheri🐞

Hi, Cheri! Thanks for the perspective….you are right that EVERYONE is different. I stand by that more than anyone:) I love Restore + L-Glutamine, and both are a part of my daily routine, but they are not for everyone. Enjoy the rest.

Why does the restore want you to go off all probiotics…they explained how they colonize…I get that, but I think for me why the restore did not do any good was because I went off my probiotics…and I am not an overkill girl…just took a dairy free carrot based 3 billion one. I do not believe I was inundated with probiotics, and it really goofed me all back up going off of them. The l glutamine I had taken was intestinew, would use when needed for approx. 4-5 years.,,maybe I have healed my leaky gut…ànd I just needed to find out the correct strain of probiotics for my intestines…which the Jarrow (great source) NP let me know. I follow the fodmap diet except I am g/d free. Working on stress…and really need to exercise! I stretch (an old ballet routine)…but need to get on my treadmill, and I think I might have a lot of this long problem licked! Thank you for your response-Cheri
p.s. It will take a while for the Pearl IC to get into colon(I was told by them 2 months) but when the Natural Calm stopped working…Mag07 really has helped…so we all see!

Hi! I don’t take Pearl IC…I am very particular with Probiotics:) Also, if you are having a lot of gut problems, I do caution a lot of running or treadmill work. Just take yourself on some nice, relaxing walks!

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Hello, I'm Sarah

My name is Sarah Kay Hoffman. I am a child of God who has an amazing husband + 3 little ones I get to call my own. My goal is to inspire through the road I've traveled, and stories I tell. Thank you for joining this journey.